Political Machinations for a New Generation

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'.
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it's for real,
The hour when the ship comes in.

Over the past year I have watched as friends all around me have become energized and excited about the political process in ways that they never have before. Most of my friends have been politically aware for as long as I have known them, but I have not seen them invested in the way they were during this political season. On campus at Ole Miss, the students in the theatre department were constantly wearing Obama stickers; the faculty were bringing political speeches into the classroom for performance evaluation (and I imagine that the response was stronger for Obama for more reasons than the fact that he is a much stronger speaker than McCain); and some faculty are beginning to try to format the upcoming season as a reaction to Obama’s election. At the end of rehearsals, when the cast and crew’s cars were the only ones left in the parking lot, it was a sea of Obama bumper stickers. Facebook profile pictures became Obama pins. The media was constantly profiling the youth’s engagement in the political process and their excitement about the Obama candidacy. I work in a liberal environment inside a liberal environment. The support of the Obama ticket was not a surprise. However the level of excitement, the commitment and the passion for his candidacy was.

I consider myself an analytical person. I can understand why Democrats will support their candidate. I can understand why Republicans will support theirs. This political season was different. And, while I did not feel strongly about either candidate, I was uneasy with the excitement manifested through the campaign. I had a difficult time believing in “change.” I did not trust McCain. People who I respect (and that is not easily gained) felt very differently. They were stridently behind Obama’s candidacy. I still do not fully understand why so many people were so invested in the campaign, but I believe that I finally understand why it concerns me so.

I recently finished Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960’s by Mike Marqusee. In the book Marqusee examines Dylan’s role in the political movements that sprung up, or were strengthened in the 1960’s. He looks at how Dylan’s songs influenced the counterculture and how it offered strength to revolutionist groups throughout the decade. Dylan largely separated himself from these organizations as his music began being co-opted by these “movements.” Marqusee argues that Dylan was uncomfortable being associated with any one group and believed that once the ideas were used by these organizations they lost their meaning. His songs and ideas were not about commercializing the freedom that he sang about, they were, instead, about personal gains. It is a dichotomy that Dylan seems to continue to struggle with to this day based on his writings in Chronicles: Volume One. It has to be difficult to sing for freedom, but once the message has been latched onto by the masses (probably the only way that lasting change will be affected), you find it loses its authenticity and therefore its strength. The passion of the middle class, white, elite youth of the time undermined the resonance of the songs. They were as much the Mr. Jones’s that he sings about as were their parents. History has largely proved this out as the radicals are now the mainstream. The freedom that they had fought for was their own, not the disenfranchised. They wanted freedom from guilt. Guilt for being privileged. Admittedly, some of these analyses (especially the revolutionary’s motivations) are my thoughts, not Marqusee’s.

While reading this book I realized the difference between the activists in the 1960’s and the activists involved so heavily in this past election. They are largely the same age, economic and racial class. However, what separates the youth (and I include people in their 30’s as youth since I am now in that age range) then from today is that then they were protesting for an overhaul of government. They wanted a break from how things are done. They wanted a new world order. They fashioned themselves off of similar political movements seen in France, Italy, Japan, England, Chile and Germany at the time. They were not content to support the Democratic candidate who promised change or the Republican candidate who promised to lead them through the war. They wanted the government overthrown. When they demonstrated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 it was in part because the anti-war candidate, Eugene McCarthy, was not going to win the nomination. The larger part was a condemnation of the fallacy of a government that is run by these people at all. The protestors had not put their faith in Robert Kennedy. The mainstream “liberals,” much derided in the counterculture press of the day, supported Kennedy. The radicals did not. The repudiation of the process was because these people were not represented anywhere in the government. Their passion was for a new government that was of the people, not of the privileged few. This can be traced back musically to Woody Guthrie (and beyond), a Leftist and Marxist who had a great influence on Dylan and many others.

This year, that same passion appears to have been present. The conditions are similar. The country has been engaged in a long fought war with no end in sight and no definitive way to “win” the battle. The approval ratings for the President are at an all time low and the majority wants someone who will pull us out of Iraq. While in 1968 the majority was not yet ready to pull out of Vietnam, the vocal youth was long ready to be gone. This year, these factors played into the passion that we witnessed during the election cycle. However, instead of being passionate about radically overhauling the government, the people were passionate about a candidate who is very much a part of the system. This is where my concerns come in. There is nothing about Barack Obama, or any major party candidate for that matter, that suggests to me that “Change” is in their best interest, much less that of their party. Aside from personal motivations, I do not know that a politician from within the system can effect change in this way. They have too many people demanding too much of them. Too many forces pulling them in too many different directions. This is not meant to condemn Obama. I do not envy anyone in the White House at the moment. I fear that regardless of who won the election, their term would be wrought with challenges unlike any we have seen in my lifetime.

Ultimately, I wanted that passion, energy and excitement to rally behind major governmental reform. Long lasting reform. I was uncomfortable in this election cycle not because I did not feel strongly about the candidates (which I did not), but rather because so many did and I felt that it could have been directed at something more meaningful. If a third party were introduced to the public and supported with the fervor that Obama’s candidacy was, we could fundamentally change the politics of the country. Since I have been able to vote, there has not been a major party candidate who has represented me. I need a third option. We could have had that this year. Instead, I see a culture, my culture, that threw their overwhelming support behind the system that they want to radically change. I cannot understand this. Is it the complacency that I see in myself manifested on an incredible scale? Is it simply easier to unflaggingly support a major party candidate because that groundwork has been laid? Have we given up our rights to be represented and instead settle for the better of two establishmentarian candidates? Or, do these people who I have such great respect for actually believe that Obama is bigger than the machine that he has been a part of?

Throughout the election cycle I felt great unease with the energy I felt from those around me. Ultimately, I believe that Obama was the better choice of the two. But, wouldn’t it have been even more exciting to put that energy toward something outside of the system, someone who would be change, not just promise to enact it? Wouldn’t it have been amazing to change our system so that in subsequent years we are not faced with the lesser of two evils, instead being presented with multiple viable options? The passion that I have witnessed this year could have been directed in a way that could have rid America of its unintended two party system.

In the 1960’s the youth movement strove for something completely different. They wanted a new leadership. They wanted equanimity amongst people; they wanted diplomacy; they wanted healthcare and food and the essentials that America stands for for every individual. They protested and marched and fought (right here on the campus of Ole Miss) for equal rights in voting, in schooling, in marriage for everyone. They recognized that these goals could not be reached within the existing system. They wanted a new system for a new generation. One that represented their goals. I witnessed similar calls for action this year. A great deal has changed in forty years. Obama would not have been elected in 1968 for many of the reasons that Dylan sang about. However, do we really believe that the machinations of politics has changed that radically?

I am excited by the passion displayed this year. I am dismayed that it was directed within the system. I finally understand the feelings I was experiencing, and continue to experience (how can anyone live up to the idealistic image being painted of Obama). I worry that whatever positive steps he takes, they will be undermined as being insufficient. I am concerned that any incoming President would be faced with a no-win situation. Please do not read this as a question of Obama himself. I am cynical of all politicians within the current two party system. Instead I am questioning whether the energy and enthusiasm was properly placed. Not because of the candidate, but because of the system.

Many of you who will read this are those that I respect and are fervent supporters of Obama. Please help me understand from your perspective.

Then they'll raise their hands,
Sayin' we'll meet all your demands,
But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered.
And like Pharaoh's tribe,
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

“When the Ship Comes In” Bob Dylan – 1963

The Year in Review - August

August: August was very much a continuation of July. While I was technically on break from the University, I continued to have bi-weekly meetings on the upcoming debate events. It was during this time that the specific requirements of each event came into clearer focus and small details like where to park generators and satellite trucks (that somehow escaped everyone but myself) came to the forefront of the discussion. Having a plan in place for the labor needs of each event (assuming the students were available and willing) we began to plan specific times for load-in / out as well as rehearsal as needed. The people who I was coordinating with were in way over their heads (even more than I was). The office that had been put in charge of the coordination of all fifty four pre-debate events (we only had nine in our building – the nine largest) were used to coordinating one off parties for donors. They knew catering. They did not know generators. Again, I was questioned about the amount of time necessary for a smooth load-in, the necessary rehearsal time, camera blocking time and the like. In most instances the 23 people in these meetings, most of whom are much higher in the University food-chain than I am accepted my recommendations, if reluctantly. However, when it came time to discuss the practicality of the installation of the new sound system in Fulton Chapel my input was squelched by the Vice Chancellor (wayyyyy above me on the food chain). I had written a proposal for a new system in October of 2007 and we received funding from a private donor. I built system designs and gathered quotes for the rest of the academic year and contracted with the installer in July. We thought that we were in place to have the system completely installed by mid-August. However, I received an e-mail at the beginning of the month from the installer that the speakers (which were being custom built) would not be ready until mid-September. By mid-September we would be in the thick of the events as well as opening our first show in our secondary performance area. I could not start installation (working largely overnight when classes are not in the space) at that time. I received this message one hour before I had a meeting with the full debate committee and had to fill them in on the news. Upon hearing the situation I was informed that there would be a new system in place. Period. As soon as I walked out of the meeting I contacted the installer to see what options we had. Understanding the situation (and not wanting to lose the contract) he loaned us a temporary system which was not as fleshed out as what we were purchasing, but that was far superior to what we had in place and would be plenty sufficient for the events.

Two weeks before classes began I gathered what labor I could for the installation and proceeded to spend four days and nights overseeing the initial phase of installation. It was a grueling process. The week before I had been called in to clear out my classroom by the end of the day so that they could begin construction on my new office. My classroom is pretty big, housing the computer lab, the light lab as well as drafting / table space. I called in some students and ten hours later it was cleared. I told them that we would move everything back as soon as everything was completed (they were only putting up one wall to create an office out of the classroom along with the requisite wiring). I assumed that it would be completed within two weeks and the students who helped would receive the remainder of the payment at that time. I subsequently went upstairs and packed up my office in anticipation of the move.

So, I was doing a lot of work during this non-contractual time and I was a little frustrated by it. I am a creature of habit. If I get into the habit of working on something, I can get it done. However, if it is constantly broken up with ancillary tasks (such as cleaning out the classroom or working on the debate) then I get out of the rhythm and have difficulty getting back into it. Therefore, the research that was supposedly being accomplished during this time period simply did not happen. I would get started, get rolling and then lose several days with this outside work. It is my fault for not being more structured, but that’s where I am at.

At the end of the month the school year began. On day one we began the hang for the debate events. It took some doing as we were hanging lights where I had never hung them and there were no circuits available. The stage was built out 16 feet downstage from where it typically ended. This meant, especially for televised events, I needed to move the lights back quite a ways. In addition to creating these hanging positions, we also had the challenge of finding all of our equipment. The Oxford Shakespeare Festival takes place each summer and uses one of our theatres. I had given them an inventory of available equipment which they largely ignored. Therefore, there was equipment scattered across campus that I had to locate and transport back. We had a week to hang and focus the equipment for the events. The first one was the Tuesday after we started back (Monday being Labor Day). It is a challenge to mount a production of this scope in the first week of classes when the students are slowly trickling in from summer jobs, and we are still assessing their skills. However, we got it done and were ready for the Naturalization Ceremony that kicked off the debate season on campus. More on that in September!

The Year in Review - June / July

June: June was a hectic month. I was designing A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the inaugural season of The Tennessee Shakespeare Festival. I had received the offer to design the show as a direct result of designing The Underpants with Tennessee Rep. The director of that show, Lane Davies, was the Artistic Director of Tennessee Shakes and the director of the show. In addition to continuing my association with Lane, the resident scenic and costume designers as well as the resident stage manager for Tennessee Rep would be doing the show. The Artistic Director of Tennessee Rep was also the Associate Artistic Director. Since I had had such a positive experience working with the Rep I did not see how I could turn down the gig (even if I did have trepidations of doing outdoor theatre). It seemed like a good opportunity to continue and strengthen my relationship with the people at the Rep.

Being the inaugural season, there was no infrastructure in place and the guidelines changed regularly. I was not able to lock down the generator until 10 days before I arrived and the equipment at approximately the same time. I did not receive the dimensions of the tent that housed the stage until I arrived. Upon construction, the scenic design changed considerably due largely to the unevenness of the earth upon which it was built. It was a totally different experience than anything I had ever done.

While the crew that I had was a hard working group, they were all comprised of actors with little technical experience. This further complicated the issue. The festival was held on the grounds of a private school in a small town about an hour outside of Nashville. The housing was in the dormitory for the students. I had not considered that they would not have bedding materials. Therefore, when I walked in I found what looked like a jail cell (cinder block walls, a single, industrial fluorescent light, bunk beds and a tile floor). No bedding. I ended up staying in Franklin and commuting in an hour and fifteen minutes each way, each day. This frayed my nerves as well. Luckily the people that I was working with were all very friendly and worked hard. This made the experience worthwhile and I ended up being fairly pleased with the result.

I was happy to return home at the end of the process. Following the 12 day stay in Franklin during The Underpants Brigitte decided to stay in Oxford for this trip. It was good to return in time for the 4^th of July and have the rest of the summer to work, presumably, upon research. More on that in July!

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Tennessee Shakespeare Festival

July: July was a fairly sanguine month. I had received a grant to study the similarities and differences between Eastern European and American lighting design styles. I thought that with the conclusion of the Shakes Fest I would spend the rest of the month working on the research. As soon as I arrived back in Oxford from the show I received a note from my department chair that I was needed at a meeting regarding the upcoming Presidential Debate (the first Pres. Debate was help at Ole Miss this past year). So, in spite of the fact that it was the summer and I was off contract I went in to the meeting. This was a preliminary meeting to see what problems might be encountered by using our primary performance space for several pre-debate events. The provost laid out the tentative schedule of events and wanted to know what it would do to our use of the space academically, practically, labor-wise, etc. I had been told by the chair before entering the meeting that we had to do this, so there was no purpose in trying to explain what problems there would actually be. Instead, I was to lay out potential problems for the organizations using the space, as well as labor needs and expected costs. This is no small task with nine events happening over the space of three weeks. Each had a different complement of speakers with different stage setups. Some had multimedia, others simply wanted a black background. The University wanted to videotape each production, some would be televised. All would be transmitted via radio. With so many variables in the process, generating the numbers that the chair requested was no small task, and certainly not something that I could generate on the spot. I could present potential difficulties for the various organizations, but had no immediate answers. This was not appreciated.

It is important to understand that our theatre is in no way set up to be a road house. We have several stages on campus. The largest, the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (where the debate itself was held), is the road house. This is where touring productions and musical acts typically produce their shows. They have a full time staff in place to accommodate these productions. Our main space, Fulton Chapel, is run by the theatre department. I am in charge of the lighting and sound. However, this is secondary to my teaching load. The only crew that I have are students who have production class hours or who are work-study. This is not the best setup for what we were being asked to coordinate. Therefore, I had to come up with solutions to these problems. I initially encountered resistance from the chair. I do not believe that she fully understands what goes into mounting a production. With the events all taking place at different times (some in the morning, afternoon, evening, etc) we would need students out of class to be able to pull this off. She said that we could not do this. I told her that we could not hold the events. She eventually backed down. This was my process. Telling people what we needed, them doubting me, and then, eventually acquiescing. It was a frustrating process. They trusted me enough to ask me to do it (or I was the only option), but they did not care for the answers I came back with. Therefore, they questioned my judgment, eventually agreeing to my suggestions.

As frustrating and time consuming as the pre-planning process was, it was also a lot of fun. I like being in control. I like pre-production work. I liked working on something unlike anything that I had done before. I appreciated the scope and challenge of what we were being asked to do. On paper, it was a good time. In the following months, when it was time to do it, the paperwork would be put to the test. Good times!

The Year in Review - May 2008

Okay...

So, I realized that I had actually already written a review of March and April previously, so here is May. June will follow tomorrow!

May: I returned to Oxford just in time for finals. Easy week. I had learned that I was going to be losing one student who was changing majors but I would also be gaining one. One of the challenges that I have faced in my job at Ole Miss has been the lack of students. When I took the job I thought that I was going to have three students which would be the base of the program while I built it up. However, upon arrival there was only one left. One had decided that she had had enough of designing in school, had already gone through two professors (her first being the man who had been there for 30 years, the second the interim prof who had been there during the search), and wasn’t really interested in a third. The second had dropped out to go work at the Hard Rock in Biloxi. The one that remained had had an unfortunate history in the department and I was warned that he was unreliable. By the end of the first semester he was making excellent strides, we had worked out our differences and he was coming along nicely. However, after failing one class in the department for the fourth time he decided that he would be changing majors after the spring. So, I was once again left with one student looking ahead to the next academic year. He had just showed up one day, had had experience in high school and wanted to learn more. I was excited to have him while being disappointed about losing the other.

Just before I left Nashville the director of The Underpants had offered me a gig designing the inaugural season of The Tennessee Shakespeare Festival. They would be doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it would be outdoors. I happily accepted the offer and went to work trying to figure out what we could do. Being the inaugural season there was no infrastructure in place and things were very much up in the air. The budget fluctuated on several occasions. Initially, there was going to be a permanent installation of power which I had given specifications on. Then that fell through and I had to learn more about diesel powered generators than I ever wanted to know. In the interim I had sent off requests for quotes for what I was wanting for the design. One company came back and said, we can’t supply that much equipment. Another came back with a quote that was three times larger than my budget. Luckily Stage Light was wonderful and came back with a quote within budget and saved me the headache of how to design the show with a third of the instrumentation that I already considered the bare minimum necessary to design the show. It was a stressful time, with many conference calls regarding power, budget and scheduling. More on the show in June!

The Year in Review 2008

So, I clearly failed at my attempt to blog each week this year (stupid resolutions). Honestly, it often crossed my mind and I even had ideas of things to write about from time to time. I could think of several excuses for why I did not live up to my resolution but none of them would be entirely accurate, interesting or worthwhile. Therefore, instead of writing about why I did not write I will instead attempt to summarize the year that was with highlights of the goings on in my life during the period. Everyday through the new year I will post a blog recapping the year. Please stay tuned!

January: January was at once a boring and challenging month. I anticipate similar times ahead. The boring part of the month is that I am away from work for the majority of the month. While I typically look forward to this hiatus, I inevitably find myself in a malaise of some sort while I try to find meaningful ways to spend this time. I inherently come up with promising ideas: work on the upkeep of the house (where is the fun in this); attempt to kill the kudzu in the backyard (but it is so damn cold out there); catch up on my much needed reading (Star Trek books for fun – plays for work and / or the sense that I am still invested in the theatre world and it isn’t just a job – Historical / Sociological books to help me sustain some sense that knowledge and education are still an interest of mine and that I am in fact interested in the world around me – Bob Dylan books because he is pretty kick ass; play video games because I should simply relax; work on designs for the upcoming semester because that way I will be ahead when I get back; spend time with the family because they also kick ass and so on… However, I often spend much more time sitting around contemplating these ideas than I do actually doing any of them. The malaise sets in, I stay up way too late and sleep way too late and overall find myself increasingly frustrated with myself. This past January held many of these traits and I am working hard to plan ahead for the coming January so that I may be able to slip out of these habits.

February: I spent much of February working with my first student designer here at Ole Miss, preparing him for the dance show that we had as part of our season. The show opened around the middle of the month which left me the rest of the month to focus on the upcoming production of The Grapes of Wrath.

During this time we interviewed several candidates for a job opening that we had in the department. I was on the search committee which meant that I got to play nice with these people while they were in town and generally had less time to spend with my family. However, I learned a lot about the department through my work on the committee. I am very glad that I had the opportunity and enjoyed the process quite a bit (I like to feel like I am in control at all times - even if I am on a committee).

What have we done?

So, in an action that can only be defined as rash, Brigitte and I have quite suddenly changed the landscape of our home, our family and our sanity. For reasoning that is clear only to those people who don't ever think things through we have made two new additions to our homes.

They are currently named Barnett Cat 1 and Barnett Cat 2. The no kill shelter that we adopted them from had named them Richard and Robert but we are on the hunt for more...cat like names (like Zoidberg for our current cat).

Brigitte and I first brought cats into our collective life on December 7, 2000 with the addition of Ziggy and Zoidberg into our lives. In March, Ziggy passed away due to complications from what the vet described as birth defects. We were surprised that birth defects would take eight years to manifest themselves, but the vet essentially said that when Ziggy was born his organs had not formed correctly and he was lucky to live as long as he did. This was devastating news to us as he was fine one day, sick and not himself the next and then the day after that he was gone. It was very sudden and we were heartbroken. Ziggy and Zoidberg were like our first children. To lose one so unexpectedly was...I don't have a thesaurus handy, so let's just say it was bad.

Ziggy (in background) and Zoidberg with baby Evelyn

Fast forward to Sunday night and I asked Brigitte if she thought she would like to get another cat, or like Ziggy and Zoidberg another pair of brothers (Z & Z coming from the same litter). We looked online and found these two and then yesterday afternoon brought them home. I usually like to consider options and think things through but in this instance I seem to have failed in that. So now we have one eight year old cat sulking around not sure of what to make of these six month old kittens and two kittens ransacking the house turning our relatively simple and clear cut lives into disarray.

They are very cute and have lots of good energy. Evelyn seems to enjoy them although she does seem to have some problem with how much attention that they require (I think that she would prefer that attention to be diverted to her). So, we have started a new phase of our lives and if we all survive, I'm sure that they (anyone have a good idea for names?) will be welcome additions to our little family.

Enjoy Cat Scratch Fever!

Recapping Year One

It has recently come to my attention that I have been "sucking" at my resolution to blog once a week. This is true. I will try to make up for it over the summer and get caught up with the actual number of blogs I had proposed to write, whether they come in weekly increments or not. So, with no further fanfare, here is a recap of my first year at Ole Miss. Some of this repeats info from other blogs, but it should get you caught up...

First of all, we have a very nice house here in Oxford and Brigitte and Evelyn seem to really enjoy the house, the half acre and the town. So, that is definitely an improvement over our condo with a 10’ x 12’ patio in the back. The house is about 2000 square feet, so we have more room and can spread out a bit more. Oxford is not my favorite place that I have ever lived, but it is a nice small town. I miss the shopping and cultural choices that are available in larger towns such as Nashville, Knoxville, Tallahassee and the like, but surprisingly, to me at least, Brigitte seems to not miss these things as much as I do. She grew up near Alexandria, VA and I thought for sure that she would have a harder time adjusting to things here than I would having spent a good year in Pullman, WA, but I have been mistaken. I am glad that they are happy though, and I spend much less time in the car which is good for my sanity and my wallet.

The job itself has been exhausting. We produce six shows a year which isn’t too bad, but I have been responsible for designing four of them this year while supervising the lighting design of the remaining two as well as designing sound for two of them and supervising the design of the other four. That, in and of itself, is very time consuming but I was more or less prepared for that when I took the job. What I was not prepared for was the difficulty in getting acclimated to the new environment, learning how our performance spaces work and the course load that I would be carrying in my first year.

The first show of the year took place in our newly renovated theatre space. This was a bad choice on the department chair’s part as it gave no time to deal with any unexpected problems, of which there were many. When I arrived I was told that the money that had been budgeted for the new dimming system in the theatre had been cut and instead of the $100,000 that were appropriated for the system I had $25,000 remaining to get the theatre operational. This was approximately four weeks from the opening of the show. In that time, in addition to figuring out how the money should be spent I had to put together the 138 lights which had been purchased for the space, design the show, hang and focus the show. Most importantly, I had to assess what was in place in the space and how best to spend the remaining funds to make it a viable theatrical performance space as well as a good theatre for the students to learn in. Unfortunately, the equipment that had been purchased had been configured in a manner to work with the new system in mind and was therefore incompatible with the old system left in place. This was a huge challenge to overcome and much of the money I had was spent making the new equipment “talk” to the old system. In addition I had to buy new dimmers, coordinate with physical plant on the installation of additional power into the space, and go through a bid process on the equipment to be purchased. Needless to say, it was a very hectic first three weeks of my tenure here, and one I do not hope to repeat again soon. However, we only missed our deadline by one day and the show opened as scheduled. Everyone seemed pleased with the design and I thought it could only get easier from here. I had no idea how wrong I was.

The next show, Company, a large scale musical, was performed in the existing larger performance space. I now had to familiarize myself with another new space, new inventory, new angles and new headaches. To complicate things, I had expected to come in to the year with three lighting students. However, when I arrived, only one student was left after the others had dropped out or decided that they no longer wished to be actively involved in the theatre department. One of these was supposed to be designing this show, but informed me in the middle of the headache in the new theatre that she would not be able to do it. So, with my one student that was left, which the department chair told me at the beginning of the year would never design at Ole Miss again after some mistakes he had made at the end of the past year, I set about designing this show. It was fraught with difficulty and again we came in one day late in our schedule, but the show opened on time and many people told me it was the best design they had seen at Ole Miss, which is always nice to hear (although the department chair, to this day, has yet to say anything positive or negative regarding my design work).

The next show, Lysistrata, went considerably smoother for the majority of the process. However, the day that we were supposed to start technical rehearsals, at which point we had hung and focused all of lights as well as written all of the cues, we received word that our main theatre space had been “temporarily condemned” due to structural failure in the ceiling from a buildup of water in the attic space (where most of my power is run, incidentally). So, we go away for Thanksgiving break and when we get back we have to move the entire set from one space to the other and I have to completely redesign the show, which means re-hanging and focusing as well as writing a whole new set of cues for the smaller stage which necessitated a fair amount of re-blocking on the director’s part. I thought for sure that my life was coming to an end.

The spring semester started out fairly smoothly. I had convinced the chair to give my one student another chance and he set about designing the dance show. I had a few squabbles with the head of dance which culminated in her asking if I had ever worked on professional dance, in front of the entire cast and crew, and me responding, “I have indeed, and what you are asking us to do looks a lot more like what I have done for a dance recital with a bunch of seven year olds whose parents just want to see their little bunny hop across stage.” So, that went well.

Then April struck. I had four shows open in April and have subsequently spent much time with various medical professionals treating me for what they can only determine are stress related maladies. First came The Grapes of Wrath, which I was ultimately very pleased with, but took a lot out of me. I worked four 18 hour days in a row and did not eat until the fourth of those days. The local paper called that the best lighting design they have seen at Ole Miss, so again, it went well, but tried to take me down with it. Then we had six working days to strike that show, re-hang and focus for the big musical revue we do at the end of the year. In the middle of that my department chair decided that we needed to cultivate a good relationship with the music department which meant that I also had to design, hang and focus the opera that was being performed in our new space. I was the only person in the department working on the show. It was most frustrating, and something that I think I have made clear to the chair I will not be doing again. I went straight from that into the tech week of the revue which I again had students working on. I want my students to be designing, but ultimately it is more work for me as I have to mentor them through their choices and go back and work through their mistakes. However, that is what I am really here to do. The day that the revue opened I drove to Nashville where I designed The Underpants by Steve Martin for Tennessee Repertory Theatre.

Working with the Rep was an excellent experience. Growing up I always wanted to work at TPAC and I finally got my chance. The show was performed in the Polk Theatre there and was a lot of fun. It was nice to be a professional designer again and only having to worry about designing the show. Several times throughout the process I had to force myself to stop and look around at where I was. I have seen several shows in this space, going back to 1988, and it was just a pure thrill to be working there myself.

I came back from that rejuvenated, and just in time for finals. The day after that show opened I had a root canal which was good as well since the tooth had been giving me intense pain since mid March and I had no time to deal with it until May 2. I did however make time to check on other health problems that came up during this time that required a lot of blood work and a CT Scan that all came back negative. After about $3,000 worth of work (much of which was covered by insurance thankfully) they came back with a response of “I don’t know, maybe it is stress related.”

Add to all of this the challenge of learning how the department and University work, figuring out what some of my classes are (some of them had very nebulous course descriptions and no one around here seems to know what the person before me taught), teaching three courses in the fall and six in the spring, serving on committees to reassess the tenure guidelines, to reassess and restructure the BA curriculum and being the design representative on a search committee, as well as going on four recruiting trips in Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and at the Southeastern Theatre Conference and it has been a very trying year.

Luckily, the department chair seems to be more relaxed and trusting of me now. I wrote a grant proposal which has gotten us $85,000 for a sound renovation in our main performance space, another proposal from which I received a fellowship over the summer to create an initial comparison of the lighting design styles between America and Europe as well as designing the show at the Rep and I will also be designing the inaugural season of the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival in Bell Buckle, TN this year. So, I am doing well with my creative and research goals for tenure. Additionally, the Rep has already begun talking to me about coming back next year for more design work and I have had meetings with the people at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta which hopefully will turn into some work next year. I have also been speaking with a company that produces shows in Pigeon Forge and Branson, MO about designing shows with them in the coming year and have spooken with a couple of other theatres about upcoming possibilities. The department chair likes that.

So, I have survived the year and am optimistic that next year will be smoother, however the first presidential debate is being held here and I learned earlier this week that they will be using our theatre for several functions leading up to the debate which will likely strain my time in heretofore unseen ways. The faculty as a whole are likable and supportive in their comments although not so helpful in their actions. We are all very busy with too much to do, so that is not something that I hold against them. My recruitment efforts have not born any fruit just yet, but there are several high school juniors who will be visiting this summer with an eye toward the 2009-2010 school year, so hopefully my roster of students will begin to grow. I have added one additional student for next year, so slowly we are growing.

I am happy with this choice over Nebraska, although I would be lying if I said that I never called up friends and asked what the hell I had done. I can only hope that the knowledge that I have gained from this year will make the next year much smoother, as it invariably should, and that I will get more sleep as well.

How are things with you?

Enjoy the silence!